Chapter 62
An old man staggered to his feet beside the broken wall.
One ear seemed to be gone; clutching the left side of his face drenched in red blood, he drew his sword and lunged forward.
“Who do you think is safe now, you w—!”
By the time a man reaches the old man’s age, no matter how disciplined he is, the heady scent of alcohol can still make rational judgment falter.
Thinking that, Yeil sprang up like a squirrel and sent another blade of sword-energy at the old man.
The old man twisted his body and narrowly avoided the blade’s edge. Kicking him aside, Yeil emphasized again without mercy.
“Put the payment in Chwihyangwon.”
Jeomsoi and the cook trembled behind the table and nodded.
The old man, buried in a pile of food like some mangy mutt, staggered to his feet with an expression that could not believe his own eyes.
“Sword— How dare a child like you…!”
But Yeil had no time for theatrics.
If Seol Seorin were still alive, getting her and returning to the Murim Alliance would be only the first step. The woman hated Jin Cheongak so much that if luck ran out, Yeil might have to carry her on his back and swim across the river himself…
Buzz. The third blade of sword-energy, glowing with the same fierce light as the Blood-Siphoning Sword Ghost’s blade, converged.
The old man’s face went pale as he scrambled, dragging Jeomsoi by the hair from behind the table and threatening him.
“If you don’t shove that ugly thing back in right now, I’ll take this little brat as my companion!”
When Yeil gave no response, the old man even dragged the cook who had been curling up on the floor and shoved him under his feet.
At that moment, heavier footsteps came into the inn.
Soaked from the rain, Jin Cheongak approached with a huge sack slung over his shoulder. As soon as he set the sack on the table the cord slipped and whatever was inside was revealed.
A woman, sleeping as if dead.
“Hey, Seol Seorin.”
Jin Cheongak poked the pale woman’s cheek, but there was no reaction.
The old man looked a bit taken aback. Seeing Jin Cheongak had gone out and returned suggested that one of the parked carriages outside must have been the old man’s.
Yeil approached Seol Seorin and pressed the sword against her slender neck, issuing a warning.
“If you don’t put the sword away, I’ll kill this woman.”
The old man blinked in incredulity.
“What did you say?”
“Choose one of two options. First: lose Seol Seorin, head of Chwihyangwon, right here. Second: give up one ear and answer my questions obediently, then live to leave.”
“…….”
Jin Cheongak clicked his tongue at the sight of the old man starting to think seriously.
“Even the renegades of the Sapa weren’t this despicable.”
Yeil ignored that and repeated the warning to the old man.
“I don’t have much time. If you don’t answer before I finish counting to three I’ll kill Seol Seorin and you. One.”
Apparently feeling the threat was real, the old man hurriedly pulled his two hostages closer and blurted out.
“……Who are you and where did you come from? Did you come to rescue the head of Chwihyangwon? Or did you come to kill her?”
“I’ll ask the questions. You answer.”
“Damn you! What on earth do you want from me?!”
“Restore the bridge.”
The old man, face inflamed with anger, huffed and tried to catch his breath before answering.
“……I didn’t destroy the bridge.”
“Then did some ghost destroy it?”
“…….”
“Yunghwangyuse.” (a code phrase)
The old man flinched. He glared at Yeil with a strange mixture of surprise and suspicion. Yeil, expression hard and voice grave, said it again.
“Yunghwangyuse.”
“…….”
“Not caught, huh. So your head isn’t completely empty.”
The old man clenched his fist. Jin Cheongak muttered to Yeil.
“Was that a password?”
“Probably.”
“A password that’s an eternal emperor’s legacy…how grand. I’m curious about the rest.”
Yeil looked at the old man and asked.
“What was the alias you started to say earlier?”
He wondered whether the man was a master of the Eight-Demon rank. His skill was clearly inferior to the Blood-Siphoning Sword Ghost’s, but reputation doesn’t always come strictly from ability.
Seeing the old man’s lips pressed tight, Yeil flashed the tip of his blade.
“If you don’t speak I’ll kill Seol Seorin.”
“Don’t be ridiculous!”
The old man howled as if from torment.
“If I answer you, you’ll just stab me with that sword-energy again. Do you want to be struck twice?!”
At that moment—
“Cheolmyeon Gwanggyeon Mandeuk!”
An unexpected interruption.
The shout came from the inn’s doorway. A man soaked by the rain pointed at the old man and cried out again.
“That beggar is Cheolmyeon Gwanggyeon Mandeuk! He murdered the deputy head of our Gaebang’s Seomseo branch and ran away… ungrateful scum of the world! No, dogs know gratitude; Mandeuk is the world’s double-scoundrel! Iron-faced double-scoundrel Mandeuk!”
Was that old man a beggar who’d fled the Gaebang?
‘Yunghwangyuse accepted someone like that,’ Yeil thought.
The Salmak, who had wiped out even direct family to erase a person’s very origin before accepting that person into their ranks, had accepted him. Ten years can change the landscape; Salmak’s composition seemed to have shifted over time as well.
“What a name—Cheolmyeon Ssangnom Mandeuk. That’s an unfamiliar alias; must be new to the rivers and lakes, perhaps a late bloomer?”
“Bullshit. He’s Cheolmyeon Gwanggyeon!”
The Gaebang, the sect of beggars, did not elevate just any vagabond to deputy head. More than martial art rank, what mattered was character and trust—one had to have the recognition of the locals to be made a deputy head of a county’s branch.
Someone who killed such a person and fled would be treated as scum even among the Gaebang.
“Humble one!”
The drenched beggar bowed his palms to Yeil.
Behind him a few other beggars had gathered, glaring at Mandeuk.
“I am Gaechul of the Gaebang. We all came this far to avenge our Seomseo branch deputy head.”
“…….”
“You seem reluctant to show your true name, so I won’t ask. But we beg you: let us help kill the iron-faced scoundrel! We chased the traitor who killed our master for many tens of days! We must have our revenge!”
“We must have our revenge!”
With their renewed battle cries, Jin Cheongak flopped into a chair and muttered.
“The beggars’ timing is uncanny.”
A glance made the situation clear: Gaechul and his beggars were no match for Cheolmyeon Ssangnom. They had likely been waiting a long time—only waiting for an opportunity.
Cheolmyeon Ssangnom tossed his chin up and laughed loudly.
“Ha! You dogs suddenly talk about virtue when your mouths are full? You all want to tail me like rats, thinking that’s honor?”
“Shut up, traitor!”
“You just sat on your hands while I killed and kidnapped that woman’s guards… and when I raided others, you pretended not to see because the timing wasn’t right!?”
“You bastards!”
“Come on, say it proudly now—show whether any of you deserve to punish me!”
Again, Yeil had no time to spare.
